Kami's Training

We join Goku atop Kami's Lookout, beginning his 3 years of training. Both of them agonize quietly over the tail. Just what could they do? Cutting it off works in the moment but it just grows back again, often within the year. Kami, however, realizes that he could use his magic to prevent it from growing back by basically cauterizing the wound after it's cut or pulled off again.

Kami and Goku sit down one day and discuss the various pros and cons contained within this tail. Sure he can fish with it and use it for other, umm, stranger activities, for an entirely non-aerodynamic surface. Kami also recounts the recent history with the tail and the ensuing rampages that are still fresh in Goku, and the currently Moon-less world's mind. The destruction of the Tournament arena, the destruction of Pilaf's castle, and much to Goku's consternation, that rampaging monster around Mount Paozu that squashed Master Gohan. The realization that he'd killed his father is sobering to say the least.

Mr Popo overhears their conversation and when Kami mentions permanently removing it, he pipes up with a suggestion. Instead of removing it, perhaps there is a way for Goku to learn how to control himself? Does he stay as the Ape after the Moon sets? Why not time it to match the setting Moon so he can ease in and out of it, briefly somewhere out in the wastelands.

So they both agree to keep the tail, at least for the time being. Goku is confident that he can someday learn to control himself while in that state. He can at least try. Worst case, Goku just can't do it and the tail gets the snip.

In addition to the 80s action movie training montage, over the next few years, they sprinkle in some carefully crafted Ape training. With the Dragonballs active again, the moon is wished back. Then Kami and Goku travel deep into the wastelands, far from even the most remote settlement. From a safe distance, Kami watches over Goku as he meditates for hours on end, before opening his eyes and looking up, into the pre-dawn sky.

This 1st time they try, the Moon is only a few minutes from setting, hopefully releasing him from his inevitable rampage before too much damage can be done. And to their delight, it works. A few minutes later Goku lays naked and unconscious on the ground. On each subsequent attempt, the Moon sits slightly higher in the sky. Goku takes quickly to meditating in the buff, despite the pre-dawn chill.

As the lunar cycles come and go, he soon starts to feel himself changing. At first Goku can only keep track of the transformation into the beast before losing his grip. With each successive turn, however, his control and sense of self lasts just that bit longer.

After well over a dozen of these excursion, as the Moon, once again, touches the horizon, the ape remains settled. It sits, watching the Moon slip lower and lower, then below the mountains, as dawn rapidly approaches from the opposite horizon. He shrinks back down to his normal teenage size, remaining fully conscious. Something that has never happened before.

Soon Goku can spend the entire night, naked and cross legged, meditating. First as himself, then after feeling an incredible power wash over him as his body stretches and grows, he continues so sit there. Still cross legged but now covered, head to toe in thick brown fur. The sight of a meditating Ozaru is quite the spectacle I'm sure. Good thing there's almost no one around to see it.

From a nearby stone pillar, Kami looks on, smiling. He's done it. He has finally managed to tame that terrible beast. Kami floats down and lands in front of the giant, fanged Goku Ape to join him in his continuing meditation. To his surprise, the mighty Ape greets him, albeit in the suitably bassy rumble.

23rd World Martial Arts Tournament

The 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament goes a bit differently, though maybe not wor the reasons you'd think. Goku's base form is a touch weaker than normal. Those long nights each month spent in the wastelands, have had a negligible but present impact on his overall training regime. Only a couple of points here and there on the as yet unquantified battle power scale.

He still has his tail, now tucked neatly around his waist, but he also has an extra layer of self-confidence beyond his usual. He has fully mastered himself. That beast will never be let loose upon the world again, unless he chooses to. In the Arena, he oozes both confidence and control, which the other competitors all notice. There is something very different about him. There is something very different about one of his opponents as well.

He defeats Chi-chi with little effort and agrees to marry her, as he promised all those years ago. This time around, Piccolo proves a lot harder. Goku's unflappable calm and unbridled self-confidence ultimately fall flat against this utter beast that Piccolo has become.

Why is Piccolo so strong? Well, he can sense energy, can't he? Surely he would have sensed those periodic bursts of energy and would have wondered just what was going on. Working out the correlation with the full Moon and the rough location, would have allowed him to watch from a distance. After the shock and awe wear off, seeing Goku and Kami there, doing unspeakable things, Piccolo ground his teeth and set about training as hard as possible in hopes to match. Maybe not the requisite 10 times harder, but to put a number on it, lets high-ball it at triple his original. Somewhere in the 1k2 range, to Goku's rather modest 400.

So does Goku lose? Well he's a little busy right now, being bodied by Piccolo. This is not a match. The crowd watches in terrified silence as Piccolo lords over them. He's going to enjoy ruling over this world. Then Piccolo makes a mistake. As he floats above the arena, he laughs and thanks Goku for pushing him to heights he'd never dreamed possible. And oh, what a shame, there's no way he can win. He gestures to the slim crescent in the sky. Not without the help of a full Moon.

Goku instantly connects the dots. Piccolo knows about the Great Ape training. That's why he's so strong. This whole time He'd been training to fight the Great Ape, not Goku. Memories of that state wash over Goku as Piccolo takes aim and prepares to end Goku, the arena and everyone near by.

The memories and inner feeling of being that ape swirl through Goku's mind. If only there was a Full Moon! He can almost feel the power washing over him as he sees Piccolo's attack Lance down toward him as he lays there on the broken arena slabs. Goku smiles and reaches out toward the power, both in his mind and toward the approaching beam.

As the blinding flash fades, the arena comes back into view. Goku is now standing, staring at what's left of the energy ball in his hands. He looks up at Piccolo, his eyes practically glowing yellow. He leaps into the air and grabs Piccolo by the ankle, then spins and throws him down into the edge of the arena, shattering it. Piccolo, now touching the ground has lost. But how? How could he harness that power without the moon? Without becoming the Great Ape?

Yup, that's right. With Piccolo's unwitting help and having long since taken full control of the Ozaru form, Goku had managed something that no other Saiyan, save one had ever reached, and none have done it on purpose. He has stumbled head first into Broly's Ikari, or Wrathful form. Broly, however, never had the Great Ape training. He never mastered himself like Goku has. Goku's Ikari is only the initial stage though, so it has only the Ozaru strength boost, with no muscle bulk, no endlessly raising power, and none of the possible self-damage that accompanies that berserker state.

Piccolo's unearthly 1k2 is now dwarfed by Goku's 4k but the end result is the same. Perhaps Piccolo's respect for him not having to resorting to the Great Ape is evident, but either way he leaves, defeated, yet determined to beat him next time. Everyone else is blown away by Goku's odd, non-transformation. Those that can sense Ki are dumbstruck. Why would anyone ever have or need that kind of power.

After this, we enter the 5 year skip. Gohan is born on schedule and he also has a tail. Given that in cannon they had no issues with Gohan prior to Piccolo's accidental encounter, neither Goku nor Chi-chi would attempt to remove it, especially since it is ultimately controllable.

Her overall reluctance to have him be a fighter once again results in Gohan remaining completely untrained. This time though, with Chi-chi's blessing, Goku occasionally takes his son through the pre-dawn transformation process a few times, recreating the circumstances of his own training. Should the worst happen, being able to control it would be a good idea for the boy.

This allows Goku to engage in some training while he is in his base and Ikari forms. He all but ignores the Ozaru form for now, choosing not to look at the moon. Ultimately, Gohan has roughly the same power level and fighting ability as in cannon. Any accidental training he gets from his father is lost in the fog of mindlessness. Goku and Chi-chi, however, do impress upon the lad that staring at the full moon is an all around bad idea unless daddy is there to help as he remains completely uncontrollable throughout most of the transformation.

Raditz

When Raditz arrives, he is immediately on the back foot. Initially thinking that Piccolo's power is Kakarot, he meets the Namekian and quickly umms and ahhs his way out of the wrong side of that one sided encounter. What the hell? Earth shouldn't have anyone that powerful, let alone other aliens.

1 of those weaker power levels might be Kakarot. That is, assuming he's even alive. He arrives at Kame House and to his surprise, meets Goku, who is almost as strong as him. Kakarot's improved so much. Well, it's not surprising given that green monstrosity running around. There is no berating his brother this time. There are in fact, congratulations for having survived this long.

Goku is puzzled by this until Raditz informs him that he's his brother and that they're Saiyans and all that. Now be a good little Saiyan and come along little bro, your Prince awaits. Well Goku ain't going nowhere, so after some back and forth, Raditz attacks, catching Goku off guard, as you do. He grabs Gohan and flies off after delivering his ultimatum.

Goku recovers quickly and looks up to see Piccolo floating there smiling down at him mirthfully. Without words, he flies off to retrieve his son, flecks of yellow in his eyes. Piccolo struggles to keep up. He's not gonna miss this little family spat. Could be entertaining and it could provide the opportunity to show off a new technique he's been working on, just for Goku.

They arrive early as Raditz is closing the pod door on the pathetic, sobbing brat. Goku quickly dives in to take on Raditz as Piccolo just floats there watching, waiting for his moment.

Raditz vs Goku, round 2 is, I would struggle to say even 1 sided. Raditz, and by proxy, Vegeta and Nappa, can see Goku's power flaring. It quickly passes Raditz's 1k5, on to 2k, 4k and up. It eventually settles at a comfortable 12k as Goku enters the initial stage of the Ikari form. Nappa is, well he just sits back down, dumb struck. Vegeta, on the other hand is absolutely livid. How can low class trash like that have, let alone hide that much power. How many sits up did he do? How much juice did he drink?

Abandoning their current assignment, they depart for Earth immediately. Hearing this, Raditz tells Kakarot to settle down. There are now 2 other Saiyans coming. And one of them is even stronger than Kakarot seems to be now. Together, the last of their race will be even stronger. Nothing will stand in their way!

Goku doesn't care though and charges in. He punches Raditz in the gut, knocking the wind clean out of him, then as Raditz doubles over the fist, still buried in his stomach, Goku spins and hits him in the back of the head, knocking the thoughts out of him too.

Well, I'm sure Piccolo is disappointed at the lack of fire-works. And I'm sure he is also just a little bit terrified. He's been training so hard and once again Goku just blows past him like it was nothing. The news about the other Saiyans, one even stronger than Goku in his yellow-eyed state? That's just, well damn it. This was going to be HIS world. And now?

Something breaks within him. It's hopeless. All his ambitions are meaningless. He settles to the ground and slumps down, defeated. After Goku rips open the capsule and extracts his son, Piccolo asks what he plans to do about these coming Saiyans. The Ikari fading, Goku shrugs and says maybe train a bit, but who's he gonna train with? There's no one that can really push him, you know?

Piccolo grimaces then quickly smiles amiably, putting Goku on edge. He should train with him and the brat. The stronger Piccolo can get, the better training partner he will be for Goku, and if his kid is anything like his dad and that lump on the ground, he'll be a powerhouse before you know it.

Ohh, Chi-chi ain't gonna like this.

But honey, the fate of the world.